London mayor renews migrant amnesty call

Monday 9 March 2009 20.01 EDT
First published on Monday 9 March 2009 20.01 EDT

Boris Johnson, the London mayor, renewed his call yesterday for an "earned" amnesty for illegal migrants as a study put the number in Britain at around 725,000.

The interim study by the London School of Economics, commissioned by the mayor, estimated that about 450,000 would qualify for an amnesty which would carry a five-year residency qualification.

The LSE study said the number of "irregular residents" and their children in Britain at the end of 2007 was in the range of 525,000 to 950,000, with a central estimate of 725,000. This compares with a Home Office estimate based on the 2001 census of between 310,000 and 570,000, with a central estimate of 430,000.

The study said there were a further 175,000 "quasi-legal" migrants whose right to remain depended on the future determination of their migration status. The LSE research says between 57% and 75% of irregular residents in Britain live in London.

"The vast majority of irregular migrants, especially those who are not asylum seekers are young, single men who use services very lightly," said a summary of the research team's interim findings. It intends to look in detail at the costs involved in the provision of public services for those whose position could be regularised.

Johnson said the report identified a failure in immigration policy with an estimated increase of 295,000 in irregular migrants in just six years: "It would take the authorities over 60 years to remove the current number of irregular migrants on current trends," he said. It was perverse that illegal migrants could use public services but were prevented from paying the taxes that fund those services.

The Home Office said: "Our policy on an amnesty for illegal immigrants remains unchanged and is ... those here illegally should go home, not go to the front of the queue for jobs and benefits."